Summer’s long gone, and busy season’s over too. The leaves have been changing. There’s a distinct chill in the air. This can only mean one thing.
The end is near.
Ahem. Well, the end of the year, anyway.
But the cooler weather brings something else with it: a welcome chunk of time. Time to review, reflect, and plan ahead. This last leg of the year is a signal to look back on all that your business has achieved—and get a head start on where you want to go next in the new year.
To help, we’ve compiled a three-phase plan for reviewing your current strategies, from open to close and back again, so you can take inventory of your current tools and methods—and fill in any gaps. Each phase consists of two steps:
- Analysis: Figure out where your business stands.
- Change: Set goals for how you want to move ahead.
Ready to refresh your business strategy? Let’s get started.
PHASE ONE: Marketing to win more leads
Analysis
The first phase is all about your marketing strategy. When it comes to opening new deals, how are you currently finding your leads?
Make sure to consider everything from social media, advertising campaigns (both online and offline), repeat business, and more. Write down your rough percentages—or exact, if you’ve got the numbers and the time—of each stream to see where your leads, especially seller leads, are coming from.
Change
With a solid idea of where your seller leads are coming from, especially in comparison to where you’re investing time and energy, you can identify where you want to continue or improve in the next year.
For example, if your social media presence isn’t as high as you’d like it to be, consider tools like Boost for smarter advertising campaigns. Or, if you’re losing their interest at the listing presentation, use our new integration with Listing Toolkit from Realtor.com® to keep your seller leads’ focus.
After, it’s time to earn their trust, which brings us to the next phase.
PHASE TWO: Catch and convert ‘em all
Analysis
Phase Two looks at your conversion strategy: Turning leads into clients. So, what does your conversion strategy look like? How are you keeping track of your seller and buyer clients, in terms of the CRM you use and more? Is it working?
To add to that, this is the time to consider your current business goals. Do you want to solidify your current clientele and focus on repeat business, maximize new growth through expansion in the new year, or find a balance in between?
Change
Consider how your listings are presented to your sellers. Conversion comes from trust, as we touched upon earlier—and trust is grown from data-backed proof. Offer your sellers a proof of concept and show them that you can bring in interest with CMAs informed by reliable data, like the ones from our new Cloud CMA integration with Listing Toolkit (which you can also read more about here).
After successfully converting clients, consider your transactions software, CRM, and more for managing your clients.
PHASE THREE: Closing the deal
Analysis
Finally, we’ve reached the last phase: Your closing process.
Here, it’s important to look at how you close deals in terms of time and efficiency, client satisfaction, and more. What forms, eSignature, and CRM tools do you use? What’s your follow-up schedule like, as a way to invest in future repeat business? Are there parts you’d like to change for 2024?
Change
Closing is nothing if not exciting. It’s also the part where it’s easy to lose steam. Make sure that you can offer your clients the services they need, whether it’s addressing mortgage financing, finding a renter, hiring movers, and more, with Marketplace tools. This will also help to keep you memorable as well.
Looking forward and beyond
Overall, thinking ahead now will save you time and energy in the future. Now that you have a solid idea about your current and future selling process from open to close, you’re well-equipped for the new year.
But before 2024 arrives, make sure to review everything we’ve talked about one more time as a whole—so you can see the bigger picture. And when you’re satisfied, you can look forward to returning in the new year, newly prepared for the future.
Congratulations! You’re now ahead of the game.
